THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Jan. 1, 1903. 
one hundred acres if it is Uiousrht desirable to do 
so. A one hundred acre tea plantation, properly 
managed and in the right locality, should yield in 
from six to eight years, ten to fifteen thousand 
pounds of tea annually. Of course the first two 
or three years there will be little in the w.iy of 
yield, as "it taiies abouti three years for the plants 
to reach sufficient size for first plucking. 
Briefly, the following outline of a plan has been 
prepared for this work : 
1. Land to be furnished to the department free 
of charge, under a guaranteed tenure of not less 
than ten years. 
2. Such labor as may be necessary in clearing 
the land and putting it into condition for planting 
to be furnished to the department free of 
charge. 
3. Teams and ordinary farm implements such 
as plows, -hiirrows etc., to be furnished to the 
department free of charge. 
4. One-half the cost of all ordinary labor 
necessary in establishing and maintaining lifty 
acres of tea plants to be furnished to the depart- 
ment free of charge. 
5. All buildings necessary for the work to be 
furciished to the department free of charge. 
6 The department will furnish an expert 
superintendent who has had experience la growing 
and manufacturing tea. 
7. The department will furnish all necessary 
machinery used in the manufacture of tea. 
8. The department will furnish all seeds and 
plants. 
9. The department will pay one-half the cost of 
ordinary labor necessary for the growing of plants 
and the handling of the product. 
10. The product from the gardens will become 
the property of the donors of the land, but will be 
handled and sold subject to conditions which may 
be mutually agreed uiion. 
KXPLANATIONS. 
The tea gardens suould be located with due 
respect to soil, climate, rainfall and labor, parti- 
cularly colored labor, The plans should he so 
made as to begin with not less than fifty 
acres with possibilities of extending to 
100 acres within a few years, if it is 
thought best. The buildings required for the first 
two or three years will be small. After that, when 
the tea begins to come in in quantity, a suitable 
factory building will have to be erected. Such a 
building for a lUOacre plantation probably will not 
cost more than $1, -500. Thefull equipment of such 
a building with machinery, etc., for the handling 
of the yield of 100 acres will probably cost from 
^^4,500 to $5,000. This portion of the expense will 
be borne by the governnsent. 
In a few days we shall have t'Jv-o of the depart- 
ment's agents visit Texas, with a view to looking 
over the territory and deciding on the best point to 
locate. We waut, of cjurse, to make this work a 
success, and to do so the best location should be 
secured. As already indicated, labour plays an 
important part in the work. Proper soil and 
suHicient rainfall are also important considera- 
tions, ilaiufall, however, we consider less impor- 
tant than the other features mention, if it is 
practicable to secure irrigation. The ideal location 
would be where there is plenty of cheap labour, 
where the soil is sufficiently rich to grow good 
crops of cotton or corn and whei'e the rainfall 
exceeds fifty or sixty inches annually, or in lieu of 
this where irrigation water can be obtained in 
plentiful supply. 
Thanking you for the great interest you have 
shown in this work, I remain. Very respectfully, 
B T G"ALLOWAY, Chief of Bureau. 
—Beamount Journal, Texas, U.S.A., Oct. 25, 
♦ 
BRITISH AND GERMAN EAST 
AFRICA : 
FUTURE PLANTING DEVELOPMENT. 
From the letter of a recent visitor to 
ISast Africa, we are riermitted to quote as 
lolows : — 
"There is a great future for this East coast 
belt which, almost throughout, is splendid land 
for coconut cultivation combined with to- 
bacco, castor Oil, sem sem grf)und nuts, etc., 
whilst flooded intervals and flooded riv^r 
banks, — e,g., the Nori Tana districts -.ire ideal 
countries for the cultivation of rice and the 
date palm. No development of this sort can 
ever be done by the local natives, neither could 
it be effected in the same w.ay in which 
Ceylon was flrst opened up by the European 
planter backed with a modest capital and his 
invaluable Tamil cooly ; for he naturally 
looked for a return in his third or fourth 
year. In my opinion ib can only be done 
by Uonipanies. Imperial Companies subsi- 
dised by a strong Government in some 
shape or form and by the introduction of 
tens of thousands of the surplus starving 
population of the agricultural districts of 
india. The Germans are far ahead of us: 10 or 
12 years ahead of us in the development of 
their East African possessions. They have 
now plantations -both Government estate.s 
and those belonging to Imperial subsidised 
Companies— with roughly speaking 60,0000 
(half in bearing) of coconut trees and thou- 
sands of acres of sisal hemp, yielding hund- 
reds of tons of fibre. The cultivation is 
splendid and thorough, and they are now being 
repaid by enormous returns after patiently 
waiting 10 and 12 years to get something in 
lieu of gigantic expenditure." 
_ ^ 
BLACK F. GREEN TEA. 
To the Editor of the Home and Colonial Mail, 
Sir, — I hope you will allow me, as a share- 
holder in the Lanka Plantatioa Company and as 
one with an extensive knowledge of tea planting, 
to take exception to some of the statements made 
at the meetnig of the conjpauy, a full report 
of which appeared in your last issue. 1 think it 
is a pity at the piesent time, when both India 
and Ceylon are suffering irom an over-production 
of black or fermented tea, which has had effect 
of curtailing profits and producing a crisis, that 
the chairman of a well-known Ceylon company 
should deem it politic to discourage the efforts 
that are being made to relieve the pressure by 
manufacturing wholesome green tea for .vhicb 
there is a large demand. It should be quite im- 
material to the planting interests whether the 
tea leaf is manufactured as blaok or green tea- 
They are. both equally well-knowa articles of com- 
